The Republic of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Home Affairs

Myanmar Police Force

Spee£h Delivered by tile Chief of Police . at the 49-th Anniversary of Myanmar Police Force

1 st October 2013

Speech delivered by the Chief of Police at the 49th Anniversary of

Myanmar Police Force Day

1st October 2013

Comrades,

Today is the 49th Anniversary of Myanmar Police Force Day, which is

auspicious for all of us and a very special day that we should take our

pride. In other words, today is the day we can recall that we were able to

establish a genuine police force in order to protect our people and serve for

their interests 49 years ago.

Since its establishment after our Independence on the 4th January 1948,

Myanmar Police Force have been transferred and upgraded several times

garnering inval.uable experiences throughout the history. Different

governments of the country tried to transform our police force into an

organization which is part of our people and can serve for the interest of

the people. On the 1 st October 1964, our police force was named People's

Police with the aim of protecting the interest of people.

So as to change the impression of people on our police force, morality,

deadline and ethical' values of each and every personnel of Myanmar

Police Force has to be changed, and sympathy and building warm

relationships with people also matter. Therefore, polices have been made

through times to achieve transformational changes within our police force.

On the 1 st October 1995, our police force was named Myanmar Police

Force, and efforts have been made so that the whole organization would

be esteemed with Five norms and standards: good morality, good

discipline, loyalty, unity and efficiency.

Comrades,

In transforming the appearance and essence of our police force, Four main

objectives have been set up: internal security, peace and tranquility,

prevalence of law and order, prevention of drug crimes and serving for the

interest of people.

2

Comrades ,

Our President has also given our force a set of guidance, Firstly , our police

force has to ensure rule of law, and make people respect law and become

law-abiding citizens within our own administrative mechanism. Moreover,

since our police force plays a key role in ensuring the rule of law, Myanmar

Police Force needs to be upgraded in all sectors to keep abreast with other

world's police forces. We also have to learn and take examples of legal

procedures used by other international police forces, and we have to try to

achieve people-centered service and people-centered policing in our

country.

Comrades,

According to the guidelines of our President, to achieve our objectives, we

must have patriotism. We must be efficient in performing our

responsibilities. Our police force must be a modern police force. Along with

the constant changing world, we have changed the structure and

appearance of our police force as well as the morality of our police

personnel to be in line with the new democratic nation, and to best serve

and protect our people, For instance, such new units as Marine Police,

Aviation Police, Financial Investigation Unit, Anti- Trafficking in Persons

Unit, Drugs Prevention Unit, Tourism Police, Highway Police, Trafficking

Police, Forest Security Police and Petroleum Land Security Police have

been established. These new police units are already carrying out their

duties in their specific fields to fully serve the interest, of the people.

Moreover, Myanmar Police Force has been best granted the State Budget

by the Government. Subsequently, uniforms and equipment of our police

personnel have been upgraded to keep abreast with other international

police forces and for better image of Myanmar Police Force.

Furthermore, the President's guidance is how we can achieve the Four

objectives of Myanmar Police Force. In fact, people-centered policing is the

best Suitable policing system for a democratic state. I would like to take

3

this opportunity here to explain briefly about the nature of democratic

policing .

Comrades,

The first factor of democratic policing is Accountability. Here,

accountability of a democratic police force ranges from accountability of

the actions of individual police personnel to that of financial report on

expenditures of entire police force. Our police personnel are holding

powers and authorities granted by people. Therefore, it is accord with the

existing laws in the eyes of people. If a police personnel broke a law, he

would be prosecuted by both criminal law and police disciplinary law.

The second important factor of democratic policing is Transparency,

because this factor can have the impact on information gathering of a

police personnel and achieving impressive actions of police force. The

most effective means of transparency is giving information to public via

different media channels.

Nowadays, people can catch the actions and endeavors of Myanmar

Police Force via media ensuring transparency between public and police

force. Similarly, CCTVs have been installed inside the interrogation rooms

of police stations in respect of human rights. Moreover, people's voices are

carefully heard and people's feelings are taken into account by means of

monthly meetings with heads of the community and local police. This can

build up mutual understanding between public and the police.

Accountability and transparency are life-bloods for feasibility of our police

force's democratic actions and procedures.

The third factor is Respect and Protection of Human Rights. In fulfilling

our duties, we who are responsible for taking legal actions must respect

basic forms of human rights in orders to protect life and dignity of every

citizen.

In accord with the democratic policy "No one is above the law", our police

personnel must avoid discrimination and partiality regardless of color,

gender, race , language, religion , belief, conscience, belongings, origin and

4

generation . We must treat our people with equity and Impartiality. It is vital

for our po lice personnel that we must be very ca reful in our actions to avoid

accusations and misconception of the people.

Comrades,

Regarding crime investigation, we must treat victims with sympathy and

respect to their life and dignity without any kind of discrimination. Victims

should be given such necessary assistance by police as protection for

security and encouragement to relief their worries. Also in arresting

suspects and criminals, basic forms of human rights and rights of the

citizens must be taken into account. Most importantly, the use of force

should be the last resort causing least damage. We must be able to apply

such particular skills as Peaceful Settlement of Conflict, Understanding of

Crowd Behavior, Persuasion, Negotiation and Mediation. In order to

master these skills in conformity with international norms and standards,

we have been conducting workshops and seminars in cooperation with

UNODC, UNDP, EU and ICRC. Our police personnel are constantly joining

trainings and seminars in foreign countries. As a result, the capacity of our

police personnel has been enhanced, and we will continue such activities

in the future.

The fourth factor we must know for democratic policing is the Code of

Conduct for th~ police force in providing quality services and carrying out

our duties for the public. To gain trust and respect of the public, police

personnel must have good dignity, professional skills and respect in our

Codes of Conduct. Moreover, our will must be strong enough to say 'no' to

different kinds of incentives that can lead to abuse of power. We must try

our gest to serve the people wit sense of accountability.

Comrades,

Here also I would like remind you the most dangerous form of crime. This

is "Corruption". Corruption is the poison for all of us, which can derail our

good endeavors and destroy good image of our police force as well as our

5

nation. Therefore, we must not only be incorruptible ourselves but also

fight against any types of corruption.

In building trust of people in a democratic state, people-centered policing is

the foundation . To apply this approach, we must have fairness and

impartiality.

Our police force is heading to Service-Oriented Approach . And at the same

time, we must adopt Proactive Crime Prevention rather than Reactive

Response.

Comrades,

It is important for our police personnel to crea.te fearless future for the

entire people. In order to do so, we must be able to effectively prevent

crimes and violent actions. Thanks to state-to-the-earth urban lifestyles,

more open and transparent trade forms, hi-tech communication systems

and natural disasters, nowadays human beings are prone to crimes

violence and victimization. These situations have challenged and required

us, police personnel, to learn modern concepts of crime preventions to

deal with different and ntraditional forms of crimes in a timely manner. We

also need to be skillful in problem-oriented policing and intelligence-led

policing.

Comrades,

Today, police forces around the world are trying to counter violent actions

threatening state and international security. In doing so, police personnel

must respect and abide by domestic laws, State Constitution, Penal Code

with human rights standards and international norms. The senior officials

are monitors and coordinators to make this happen.

Comrades,

In conclusion, I want to highlight the importance of people-centered

policing for a free and fair democratic society in our country.

Every action of yours must encompass transparency and accountability.

6

We, as much as possible, have to coordinate with the public and other

relevant organizations in areas of conflict settlement for ensuring rule of

law, as well as to maintain peace and tranqu ility of the State.

We must be good policing personnel who are incorruptible under any

circumstances and idol citizen who are esteemed with good ethics and

morale.

We must give fair treatment to all citizens.

The senior police officials must also monitor the actions of subordinates,

who will in turn be rewarded for their good deeds. This, I believe, will

strengthen the unity and efficiency of our police force.

I want to encourage all of you to try to build up mutual trust with the public

and fulfill the needs of public with the best use of our own powers.

I wish you all to possess success, happiness and peacefulness!